Behind Abortion

From Hillary Clinton:

"Well, under our laws currently, that is not something that exists. The unborn person doesn't have constitutional rights. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't do everything we possibly can in the vast majority of instances to, you know, help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy, to have appropriate medical support. It doesn't mean that you don't do everything possible to try to fulfill your obligations. But it does not include sacrificing the woman's right to make decisions.

On April 3, 2016, Hillary Clinton emphasized the importance of women’s right on deciding whether getting abortion when she had an interview with NBC's Chuck Todd. She caused the controversy on abortion by saying, "The unborn people doesn't have constitutional rights." Because current law does not acknowledge the rights of the unborn, Clinton's talk proves her insistent pro-choice attitude.

"I do think we have to take a look at this for conflict zones, and if the United States government, because of very strong feelings against it, maintains our prohibition, then we are going to have to work through non-profit groups and work with other counties to...provide the support and medical care that a lot of these women need."

On November 22, 2015, Clinton said that the 1973 Helms Amendment, which prohibits the use of foreign assistant funds for abortion, should be reconsidered in conflict zones where rape is used as a weapon of war. She said that the systematic use of rape by the most vicious militias, insurgent groups, and terrorist groups. 

On September 18, 2015, Clinton tweeted the message about protecting funding for Planned Parenthood. On September 23, 2015, she criticized Republicans' anti-abortion strategy and continuously supported funding on Planned Parenthood on a interview with The Des Moines Register. She said, "They're increasingly opposed to family planning and contraception. This is a direct assault on a woman’s right to choose health care. Forget about abortion, which is something that a limited number of Planned Parenthood facilities perform, with not a penny of federal money."

From Bernie Sanders:

"As president, and as someone who has a 100 percent pro-choice voting record in Congress, I will do everything that I can to protect and preserve a woman's right to an abortion. Women must have full control over their reproductive health in order to have full control over their lives. We must rescind the Hyde Amendment and resist attempts by states to erect roadblocks to abortion."

On January 22, 2016, Bernie Sanders, as other strong democratic candidate, spoke against the Helms Amendment, which allows no use of taxpayer dollars to cover abortion services.

The Helms Amendment was first enacted in 1973 and states that, "No foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions."

On September 2, 2015, Sanders tweeted about protecting funding on Planned Parenthood. Early, he spoke against the Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood. Sanders said on July 29, 2015, "Stripping funding for Planned Parenthood would punish the 2.7 million Americans, especially low-income women, who rely on its clinics for affordable, quality health care services including cancer prevention, STI and HIV testing and general primary health care services."

 After the May 3 Tuesday Indiana primary, Ted Cruz and John Kasich drop out from the presidential campaign, making Donald Trump the only Republican candidate. 

From Donald Trump:

On March 30, 2016, Trump said that "there has to be some form of punishment" for women who have abortions if abortion is criminalized. This statement immediately attracted criticism from all sides. 

Immediately after it happened, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks released the following statement from Trump:"This issue is unclear and should be put back into the states for determination. Like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions, which I have outlined numerous times." 

On Feb 26, 2016, Donald Trump admitted, "Millions and millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood. But I defund it because I am pro-life..." It seems that his pro-life attitude conflicts with his agreement on the help from Planned Parenthood. 

His public speeches on abortion always conflict with each other because he change his stance over time. For example, this Ted Cruz Ad about Donald Trump and abortion shows that his pervious speeches were inconsistent.

Ted Cruz and John Kasich's Responses:

Ted Cruz responded to Donald Trump's statement about "women should get some form of punishment for having abortions", "Once again Donald Trump has demonstrated that he hasn't seriously thought through the issues, and he’ll say anything just to get attention. On the important issue of the sanctity of life, what’s far too often neglected is that being pro-life is not simply about the unborn child; it’s also about the mother — and creating a culture that respects her and embraces life. Of course we shouldn’t be talking about punishing women; we should affirm their dignity and the incredible gift they have to bring life into the world."

MSNBC interviewed John Kasich on March 30, 2016 for his response for Donald Trump's "there has to be some form of punishment" for women who have abortions. He said, "women should not be punished for having an abortion."

From the Guttmacher Institute data on U.S abortion, 21 percent of pregnancies, including miscarriages, end in abortion. a reduced abortion trend has built since the 1980s in the United States. From the national research in 2011, 1.06 million abortions were performed, down 13% from 1.21 million in 2008. From 1973 through 2011, about 53 million abortions occurred. 18 percent of U.S women who get abortions are below 18. More than 50 percent are women in the 20s.

58 percent of women getting abortions were in their 20s; 22 percent of women were in their 30s; 18 percent came from teenagers under 18; the rest was 2 percent.

40 Days For Life in Boston

About 75 protesters prayed outside in the first 40 Days For Life in Boston anti-abortion protest at the Commonwealth Planned Parenthood clinic on Saturday, April 23, 2016. 

Most members and volunteers came from an organization named 40 Days For Life. It's an international anti-abortion organization. Less than ten members gathered at this Planned Parenthood weekly, but this was their first annual protest. It lasted from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. 40 Days For Life invited people from Massachusetts Citizens for Life and Pro Life Legal Defense Fund to come and to speak. read the whole report

"Tell me what to do with my body one more time!"        from a driver stopped by the protest

This is a story from Victoria Rios, a wife, a mother, and a woman who got abortion.

When I first met Rios, she was holding a "Defend Life" sign in front of Planned Parenthood at the Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. It was an anti-abortion protest.

It was a raining day. Nobody stopped to look at what they were protesting. The only exceptions were a group of young men who gave their middle fingers to protesters and a female driver who yelled, “Tell me what to do with my body one more time.”

Her facial expression hadn't changed no matter what kind of yells or laughs she faced. During the two-hour protest, her mind seemed to fly to a peaceful place.

Rios was born in a small town and came to Boston by herself. She was Catholic; but she got abortion when she was in her 20s. She was in her new marriage and her husband at that time forced her to get abortion. She had to choose between her relationship and her baby. She chose the relationship, but the relationship was broken ultimately.

Suffering from overwhelming pressure, Rios pushed her feeling down and entered to a new relationship. Unfortunately, she experienced another miscarriage partially because of her previous abortion. Then she rethought whether her rough decision on abortion was right.

The great gift for Rios was her son. This 10-year-old boy now is a Catholic and pro-life person. He was examined in trauma when Victoria was eight-month pregnant. His umbilical cord was around his neck. But as Rios said, "God helped to save her son."
What is behind her abortion?